Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly voted for the Fighting Irish as the second-best team in the country right now. / Matt Cashore, US Presswire

by Chris Strauss, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Strauss, USA TODAY Sports

It would likely behoove Brian Kelly to cast his team as the best in the country, but the Notre Dame coach is staying true to his word about not playing politics when it comes to a BCS title game berth.

Asked on the Dan Patrick Show where he voted for his team in the latest Coaches Poll, he admitted that he placed them second behind Alabama, with Oregon, Kansas State and Georgia coming in at the third, fourth and fifth spots.

"I think [Alabama] started there and you have to take the belt from the champ," Kelly said. "I think they deserve to be there until somebody beats them."

He also told Patrick that he feels the coaches poll could be evaluated differently, since most of the people voting don't have a chance to watch many games that don't involve their individual teams.

"I take my vote serious and I'm not saying other coaches don't," Kelly said. "There could be a better way to have some more former coaches or athletic directors or those that can watch more games and have a better sense and feel. Because quite frankly I don't get a chance to see all these other teams play. I try to do it off statistics and information that's given to me. I take it serious and I'm not saying other coaches don't but there could be a better alternative."

On Tuesday, Kelly told the Chicago Sun-Times that he wouldn't try to sway voters to put them in the BCS game if Notre Dame happens to be one of several teams to finish the regular season with an undefeated record.

"It doesn't help," Kelly said. "If it helped, you know me, I could talk all day. If it really helped, I would be on the stump for it. But it doesn't do anything. The only thing that does is winning football games. So I try to spend all my time and energy focused on how we can get another win, and getting to 10. That's really where we're at right now: How do we get to 10?"

It's a smart strategy for Kelly to take, especially with Oregon, currently third in the BCS standings, still facing games against two ranked teams in Stanford and Oregon State plus a potential Pac-12 title game appearance. Top-ranked Alabama still has to get through Texas A&M and Auburn before a potential matchup with Georgia or Florida in the SEC championship, while the Irish should easily knock off Boston College and Wake Forest, making USC the only real obstacle standing between them and 12-0.

There's still plenty of football to be played before they determine who's headed to Miami on January 7th. Kelly likely realizes that there's no point in fully pleading his case until all the testimony has been officially heard. If the Irish happen to be one of more than two undefeated teams three and a half weeks from now, Kelly may change his tune when it comes to giving stump speeches.